-- “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Yes, Realms of the Haunting. Finished it a few minutes ago. Ah… so nice. Though I must admit that it's not all THAT spooky if played for the nth time, in windowed mode and in bright daylight. The experience was a bit different when I played it for the first time back in '96 or so - at night, on the full screen and with headphones. The Templars, however, give me the willies no matter what…

Originally Posted by Jaz
Yes, Realms of the Haunting. Finished it a few minutes ago. Ah… so nice. Though I must admit that it's not all THAT spooky if played for the nth time, in windowed mode and in bright daylight. The experience was a bit different when I played it for the first time back in '96 or so - at night, on the full screen and with headphones. The Templars, however, give me the willies no matter what…

Wow, that was quick
I'm currently in chapter 16, collecting brains (finally found the last one - that took a while!)

Which enemy is it exactly that you are calling "Templar"? The guys in black suits that shoot at you?

I FINALLY finished the HoMM V campaign (original game). After many stops and starts, it's done. It was fun, but at times, too repetitive, forcing me to take breaks. The best part was learning how to build heroes for each of the factions and learning how to use the different faction units. I think the simplistic town building and resource collection aspects were more of a distraction than fun (unlike MoM towns which I found much more interesting).

Now I am playing Age of Wonders for my first time. Just starting, but it sure looks simplistic when compared to Master of Magic (especially the town building and spell set and even units and magic power management). I do like that it has a campaign rather than just random maps scenarios.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I FINALLY finished the HoMM V campaign (original game). After many stops and starts, it's done. It was fun, but at times, too repetitive, forcing me to take breaks. The best part was learning how to build heroes for each of the factions and learning how to use the different faction units. I think the simplistic town building and resource collection aspects were more of a distraction than fun (unlike MoM towns which I found much more interesting).

Congrats on finishing the game. I thought it had quite a few maps that were very tough! Funny thing that you found the town building to be "simplistic". I thought it was just about perfect - but then again, I'm a complete "stategy-game-noob" - so any more options and I would have felt overwhelmed

Yes, the ranger and dungeon maps in particular were VERY dicey! Actually, those motivated me to finish since the others were getting too easy / routine. I got very luck with the wizard build at the end - specialized in dark, light, AND summoning magic and got all 3 of the best 5th level spells by the middle of the 2nd map - puppet master, resurrection, and summon phoenix. It almost became too easy!

My issue with towns is that their development became very rote very quickly - you almost always followed the same build order for each faction once you figured out what was most important. Most notably the general build order strategy didn't vary much from faction to faction - so after umpteen maps, that aspect of the gameplay become repetitive quickly and not so interesting for me.

Not much time to actually play games right now. However, I have been watching downloaded longplays on my PSP for games I oughta play but lack the resources to do so. I recently watched Killzone on PS2 as I might play Killzone 2 on PS3 later.
Then I downloaded a video for Halo 3 since it's one of few XBox 360 games that is of any interest for me. (Lousy game, good story). I wonder if this is considered piracy.

It's quite fun to watch if you watch someone who really knows the game as far as I concern.

-- Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind. - John F Kennedy
An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind. - Mahatma Gandhi
The world is my country. To do good is my religion. My mind is my own church. This simple creed is all we need to enjoy peace on earth. - Thomas Paine

Sorry about that Corwin. I could have sworn I said the manual was in Chinese.

You really don't need it. Just load her up and away you go. The tutorial covers everything. Everytime you learn something new about your character an in-game help system will explain what it is and how to use it. I've gotten so used to not reading manuals now I hardly ever look at them. I really wish that wasn't the case though.

Anyways, if you have any questions just ask. One little hint that frustrated me at first. In the very very very beginning you'll come across a burning door. JUST KEEP HITTING IT I hit it once and the animation made it seem like I was getting burnt by the fire so I figured the exit must be somewhere else. It's not. Keep hitting the door till it breaks.

I loved Dead Rising 2. Passed it multiple times getting multiple endings. I like the fact that I have to take care of my daughter or she'll go all zombie on me Adds something to the game.

The other timers are a little annoying and there is no infinite mode. The closest thing that comes to that is to fail the first mission. Then just go around surviving in the Sin City until the game ends and you start a new game. Your character's experience and combo cards transfer over to the new game.

@Corwin Don't forget to apply the patch. That is a must with the game or you'll get all kinds of weird stuff going on. Plus, if you have any trouble with the game that link I pm'd you a long time ago sends you to a tool that will fix any broken quests you may encounter.

I couldnt play dead rising because the text was so small and blurry on my tv. It seems like the last thing that would matter in a zombie slaying game, but it really crippled the experience for me. If time want such a factor, maybe i could have swung it. Is this a problem in 2?